Glamour Beauty Festival 2017

In March, TenEighty ventured down to the second annual Glamour Beauty Festival at the Saatchi Gallery in London for a style-packed weekend. Here’s what we got up to…

Spanning all three floors, the festival offered attendees the opportunity to sample free products, attend talks and panels by beauty experts and YouTube creators, and have their makeup done by professionals from several large brands.

During the first panel on Saturday 11, Sam Chapman and Nicola Haste of Pixiwoo answered questions from Alessandra Steinherr, Glamour’s beauty director, and the audience, while also doing makeup for two people they picked out of the crowd. Sam and Nic spent some time talking about their kits that they had on them, giving out tips and advice to a rapt audience, and talked a lot about their own experiences working with makeup on both themselves and others.

Throughout the panel there was a running theme of body positivity and appreciating yourself, which was explored when the two of them told the audience, “Don’t look at those models in fashion shows who always look perfect – a lot of those looks are gorgeous but they last for ten minutes max. In real life, real women want something for the whole day.”

After the first talk we wandered around the event, getting our eyebrows and makeup done in free sessions by professionals from High Definition, Marc Jacobs, and Nars, before going to grab food and drinks from the Beauty Bar on the ground floor.

After a Saturday of being pampered, we returned on the second day and headed straight for the Desert Island talk hosted by Alessandra, with Victoria Magrath (In The Frow), Sammi Maria, Niomi Smart, and Frankie Bridge. Each person was asked to pick out several products they could not live without – things they might take to a desert island – that fit into categories such as “under budget”, “eyelash products”, “skincare saviours”, and the like.

Afterwards, questions were taken from the audience, and the panel discussed topics like how they found their focus on YouTube. Niomi commented, “I think you’ve just got to stay current, keep up with the latest products, and sort of find that work/life balance as well”.

Sammi talked about dealing with products she is given by companies. “I like to just give them a try once,” she said. “That way it doesn’t interrupt the products I already use, and if it’s better than the one I use already then I make the switch!”

After wandering around and sampling food and drinks on the top floor, we made our way to Jim Chapman’s panel with Toby Huntington-Whitely, Dougie Poynter, Robert Konjic, and Oliver Cheshire. After introducing his guests – all as “international men of mystery” and “supermodels” – Jim launched straight into his questions, starting with how important grooming is to his panellists, going over tips and tricks for taking selfies, the importance of cutting milk from your diet and drinking water, and sharing the bathroom shelf space with his wife, Tanya.

After Jim’s panel, we came to the “Wellness stage”, where The Lean Machines – John Chapman and Leon Bustin – were talking about their book Eat Well, Move Better and Feel Awesome. The two have been making YouTube videos for nearly six years, ranging from workouts to nutrition; they also Joined Jim in his “Red Nose Challenge” video. During their talk they covered food diaries, healthy workouts, and how they changed their perceptions of body image as personal trainers.

“I remember that I would look at models on Instagram and think, ‘god, I want those abs’,” Leon said. “I hadn’t stopped to realise those were just single moments of someone’s life, and even if it wasn’t then they’d be getting paid to look that good and they’d have to be constantly training and training and watching everything they eat.”

To round off the weekend event, Esteé Lalonde joined Alex to host a live talk on Glamour’s Facebook page. They talked about how they got to where they are, what their favourite products are, and what Alex looks for in her staff. When asked what their highlights were from the weekend, Alex answered, “Honestly? Seeing the queues, because this, we do all this for Glamour readers.”

As the talk drew to a close, Esteé and Alex thanked everyone for coming and reflected on the weekend, and the festival as a whole. “I really think the Glamour festival is different to the other ones. I’ve been to many of these things and this is the one I will always keep coming back to,” Esteé said. “It’s so well put together, it’s chic. It feels like you’re in an issue of Glamour.”